Par Annabel Murphy et Laura Tucker
Is clean air, sustainable profits and a just energy transition too much to ask of Europe? This is not the view of the renewable energy communities.
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Amid rising energy costs and growing concerns about climate change, nonprofit renewable energy communities are on the rise. In Europe, these cooperatives offer affordable and sustainable solutions for energy supply, allowing ordinary people to come together and invest in alternative energy systems that promote the green transition.
In order to grow, however, the European energy sector must reorient its thinking, moving away from centralized systems and big players and towards decentralized systems driven by people power, with the right incentives and infrastructure in place.
What does the citizen-powered energy sector look like?
Today, Europe has at least 2,250 energy communities, involving around 1.5 million citizens actively producing electricity. This number is expected to increase significantly over the coming decades. A study by CE Delft in the Netherlands predicts that by 2050, around 83% of EU citizens could contribute to renewable energy production, a staggering 187 million households.
To achieve this, the European Commission and Member States have introduced various measures to support the growth of energy consumers, i.e. citizens who consume and produce energy, individually or collectively in communities energy.
Belgium has announced plans to almost triple its offshore wind capacity to six gigawatts (GW) by 2030, with the construction of three new wind farms. For the first of these, due to start this month, the Belgian government is encouraging community participation, allowing citizens to benefit from more affordable and cleaner electricity through their involvement. Thirty-three Belgian energy cooperatives have come together under the name “SEACOOP SCES” to collectively invest in these upcoming offshore wind projects.
Summer 2024 – Hottest on record globally and in Europe
There is an urgent need to develop renewable energy in the energy system, stressed Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). According to recent data, 2024 was the hottest summer on record worldwide and in Europe.
August 2024 marked a dramatic turning point, recording temperatures 1.51°C above the pre-industrial level. This is the 13th month in a 14-month period that the average global surface air temperature has exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.5°C, according to the Service’s ERA5 reanalysis dataset. Copernicus on climate change (C3S).
“In the last three months of 2024, the world experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record and the hottest boreal summer on record. These extreme temperature events will only intensify if we do not take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Scaling up renewable energy production, including community energy projects, should be implemented to limit dependence on fossil fuels as much as possible,” she urged.
To support this, C3S has launched an energy services platform designed to provide people and communities with better information on energy use, particularly for renewable energy like solar, wind and hydropower. The platform provides predictive data that can help communities manage energy production, supply fluctuations and plan both short-term operations and long-term strategies.
Scientists believe the platform will support the transition to cleaner energy, with additional improvements planned for 2025. These improvements will include wider spatial coverage, hourly updates on weather conditions and more comprehensive data to improve forecasts. energy production.
Towards a new direction: From local assets to major projects
Fortunately, scaling community renewable energy projects is at the heart of the vision of many successful cooperatives across Europe.
In Belgium, cooperatives produce enough electricity to power four percent of households, or around 216,000 households, but there is still much to be done, says Dirk Vansintjan, president of REScoop.eu, the European federation of energy communities.
“To continue on our path to success and achieve our decarbonization ambitions while making energy more affordable for all, governments must create an enabling framework so that we can invest and be part of larger assets. Involving people in this energy transition is also important,” said Dirk Vansintjan.
Belgium is the second country producing the most offshore wind energy per capita. The country has incorporated citizen participation into the eligibility framework for its new offshore wind projects in the North Sea, encouraging greater collaboration between businesses and citizens.
“It is important to use a regulatory framework, a legislative design, a regulation to allow this citizen participation and oblige them to work together and not only to compete, but to collaborate with each other,” declared the Belgian minister of Energy, Tinne Van der Straeten.
“Because energy concerns above all people and citizens. It’s about producing it locally, distributing it to those who need it, not only in industries and businesses, but also to citizens. In the future, energy communities will be very present in homes and in society as a whole,” she said.
An energy community approach for the EU as a whole
Countries across Europe still have work to do to find the right balance between all stakeholders and raise awareness of the benefits of energy cooperatives throughout the community.
In Portugal, for example, energy-producing communities risk being treated in an “undemocratic” way, says Ana Rita Antunes, coordinator and founding member of Coopérnico, the only national renewable energy cooperative in this very sunny country. Ana Rita Antunes explained that cooperatives are treated the same as large producers, which limits their ability to compete and grow.
“You only have access to the road if you have a big car. But, even if you have a small car, you should be able to take the same route. However, this is not the case in Portugal,” explains Ana Rita Antunes, referring to the opinions that energy communities face in the country.
“We need public procurement opportunities that recognize the diversity of structures and objectives of different entities. We are not all motivated by profit. »
Ana Rita Antunes refers to Northern European member states where public support and understanding of the value of energy communities is more widespread. Fortunately, change may be coming for the rest of us.
Danish climate minister and commissioner-designate for energy and housing in Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission 2024 is tasked with creating a citizen energy plan. Minister Tinne Van der Straeten believes that this initiative will help accelerate access to clean and affordable energy across the EU.
“I am very happy that we have now put in place a framework for offshore wind (in Belgium) so that we can also serve as an example at European level and have a broader European legislative framework,” concluded the Minister Tinne Van der Straeten.
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